While not as common as super-hero related trading cards, Sonic cards have been around nearly as long as he has. No matter where they come from (packs, food tie-ins, cut-outs, magazine inserts) they're always good to collect. This page covers the more modern cards and games.

Not content just to collect cards?
These modern Sonic X based cards are also a game. Natually, they use cels from the show for most of their pictures. The character icons in the corners though, seem to be various stock arts, as you can immidetly recognize Sonic's poses from MANY common t-shirts

Photo & Info by Sonic2nd.

The cards you see here are a "Starter Set". It has 1 each of 22 different cards. However, the starter set says it has 110 cards. The catch is that there are supposed to be 5 copies of each card in the set.
The main point of the game is to collect the Chaos Emeralds cards. You have to collect 3 in order to win. Each player puts 5 cards in a row on the placemat. Then they take turns flipping their cards over one at a time. You can discard the other player's card depending on the color and number of rings printed on the card. Then you can add up the total number of rings on all of your remaining face up cards. Whoever has the highest number of rings gets a Chaos Emerald card. You are apparently supposed to repeat the process until someone gets all 3.

As you can see, it seems to be based on luck of the draw over anything else...unlike current games like Yu Gi Oh and Pokemon or even Magic the Gathering, which requires strategy and has cards with different "Powers".

Mysteries still surround this card game.
What does the game mat look like?
The game has had several "releases" or "editions" so there surely must be more different cards than what appears here. What are they like? Is the game really this simple? Also, the "Booster Boxes" (usually $50.00) need photos and details of exactly what you get in them.

In all, this could be an interesting Sonic item to collect, if you can find it. The recomended places to get the game are of course, your local comic book/card shop. (because you can ask them questions and see other boxes)

However, the Z-Store also has a very non-descript item you can buy that says it's "The card Game". They should be the 2006 edition cards. It has 110 cards in a box, but doesn't say which series it is. It is $9.99 each, and comes with instructions. They'll ship most over-seas too, which is nice! Push the link above to go to their Sonic-X page if you want to buy it. (This page may also have the Sonic X show DVDs and Keychains)

Here's a closer look at some of the cards. Each one has a title at the top like "Duck for Cover", "Back Peddle", "Party Time" and "Chris' Mom". Some of them have instructions like "Shuffle opponent's deck" and "This card can battle discard-blue cards". They're also color coded which probably means something. These are from a 10-card sampler. Scan by: JSL

This is the instruction paper that came with the game. The photo of it has been left really large so you can read it. This way, you can see if the game is appealing before you decide to buy. However, the game itself is all right to collect, even if you don't ever want to play it. Scan by . Checklist, instructions and comparison scans also by TJ Kitsune.

The game was first released in 2005. But another set of cards was released earlier by SCORE in 2004. (seen below) There were to be a minimum of 12 foils in every box. The entire set also had a foil version.The "SS" and "E" series were the "special foils" that had backings that were like a puzzle with scenes from Sonic X. The cards themselves were nothing more than shots from the TV show. You couldn't play any games with these early cards, but they were good to collect. As you can see above, many of them got re used in making the game.

Check list cards. Each one has a partial listing of the cards/names you need to get the whole set. Still though, you have to come across all three of them to even find out what else you're short of. (but this is the way of collectible cards...) The backs are about the same as the fronts, only there's a very light 'water mark' ish Sonic hidden amongst the light rays.

All of the cards had foil variants...for some reason. Clearly they're not as impressive as the old 1990s foils, but they're still interesting. You can sort of see a halo of color on the far left card. Foil effects do not scan or photograph well. The back of the card describes an Eggman attack & why this guy needs a flamethrower.

in 2006 the Sonic X trading cards game changed somewhat. These images represent how it switched to look. The box has the 15th anniversary seal on it, and says '110 cards inside'.

The game mat (above) is very simple. It has a gradient background and numbered blank spots to place the cards. Below, you can see the instructions (which likely changed the rules a little) along with some diagrams on how to lay out the cards as the game is played. It seems longer and more complex, when compared with the sheet above. Photographed & owned by: